Just Another Day
by weirdtaste
Summary: Just another day on the job. Morgan's POV. Hints of H/P but just barely.


Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. If I did, I wouldn't have let it gone to crap *cough*.

The side of her face is covered in blood. She insists that she's fine and refuses a trip to the doctor. Not that that was unexpected. He knew that Prentiss hated hospitals – that and any signs of weakness on her part. At least she is letting the EMT look at her injury and check for possible signs of concussion. The fact that Dave is standing over her, glaring as though daring her to argue probably has something to do with her willingness to sit still for the moment, although he can see that she's still a bit jittery. They can all tell that she is still running high on adrenaline, but that will soon wear off and the pain will come with the inevitable crash that follows.

Morgan sighs internally. They caught the unsub. It was a very close call but they managed to save the last victim from having her throat slashed. His colleague has a nasty-looking gash on her forehead to show for it but it's all in a day's work for them, really. He swears that these days the cases seem that much longer. He doesn't know if it's simply because of JJ's absence but he is willing to bet good money that they all have yet to recover from their recent loss. There have been less teasing among them lately, less statistics and inane trivia lectures, less jokes that borderline on sexual harassment. There is a giant, gaping hole that no one is able to sufficiently fill and he fears that none of them have a clear idea of what to do. While they have handled the changes as professionally as they could, the suddenness of JJ's departure has been unsettling to say the least, disturbing the balance of their close-knit group.

He refocuses his attention on Hotch who was telling him to drive the team back to the police station to wrap things up. The sooner they do so, the sooner they can go back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. If they're lucky, they can probably squeeze in about four hours before their flight back in the morning. His train of thought is once again interrupted when he sees Reid join Rossi and Prentiss. Reid promptly starts off on something about the concordance rates between head wounds and fatal brain damage. The distance between him and the trio doesn't make him privy to what is actually being exchanged but Prentiss says something in response to the two men in front of her, her colourful hand gestures clearly indicating her annoyance over their hovering. He lets out a soft snort at his friends' antics.

Morgan turns back towards Hotch before realizing that Hotch has stopped talking and has instead joined him in studying their fellow comrades. After a moment of deliberation, his unit chief tells him that he will drive Prentiss to the hospital and that they will meet the rest of the team back at the hotel. He obviously has no intention of letting the sole female member of their team do paperwork in her condition. Morgan raises one eyebrow, silently asking his boss if he realizes the ambitious, not to mention dangerous task he has just willingly taken up on: dragging a stubborn, (and currently pissed off) gun-wielding Emily Prentiss to the hospital after she has specifically turned down that option, and repeatedly too. The man responds by giving a slight quirk of his lips (if Morgan is not a damn good observer he would have missed it) and a small nod, indicating that he is willing to take his chances. They both voicelessly acknowledge their agreement that knowing Prentiss, she's probably making her injury out to be a lot less serious than it actually is. _'Better safe than sorry.' _As concerned as he is for his friend, however, it does not mean that he isn't relieved to not be in Hotch's shoes right now.

And as he looks at them both in his rear-view mirror, Hotch guiding Emily to the other SUV all the while arguing over their destination, he prays that things will get better and that no matter what happens, they will continue to fight the good fight.


End file.
